The Misunderstood Genius Of AEW's Orange Cassidy

Orange Cassidy
AEW

Still, those who got the joke wondered when its charms would fade.

The subsequent Chris Jericho programme peaked at the second match and was never as entertaining as the bit where Jericho, demanding the "baddest man on the planet", was confronted by Orange and not Mike Tyson. 2021 was mixed for Cassidy; he was incredible in the Double Or Nothing semi main event three-way but was bogged down in a dire, abandoned programme with Matt Hardy. In 2022, he shuffled back into life, working the best match at Forbidden Door against Will Ospreay. That was sensational. A superb, blistering chess match, Cassidy mocking Ospreay's "This is where you clap" superhero pose was such a great bit in particular. Orange was daring the people who hate him to pop, since they loathe Ospreay's "choreography", too.

The punchlines were still amusing - Cassidy is an endlessly inventive worker - but it was felt that he was always going to be used, sparingly, as a great and over wrestler who could slot into any role without going on an "arc" of his own. That all changed as 2022 bled into 2023. Weeks away from his four-year anniversary with the company, Cassidy is writing his best punchline yet - which is very good going for a mildly amusing gimmick worker, no?

The idea of the lazy slacker evolving into AEW's most fightingest champion ever is a great bit, but it's no one-note gag. Like the best jokes, Cassidy has built upon it. Early in the International title run, AEW sent itself up by booking several wrestlers to interrupt Cassidy's backstage promos and demand a title shot and, before they'd even finished the threat, Cassidy deadpanned "Sure". Cassidy went from barely "trying" to defending the All-Atlantic title with honour and doing an open challenge gimmick, the incredulous nature of which was piss funny. Cassidy's approach to wrestling comedy is far beyond his contemporaries. His gags are as densely layered as something from Arrested Development.

He couldn't be bothered to carry the thing - in doing so, further adding to his iconic, marketable slacker look with a backpack - but he sure wanted to defend it. And defend it he has, across countless excellent and different matches with a gripping narrative through-line dripping in an irony that will soon become heartrending: Orange, the guy too lazy to wrestle, is now wrestling so often and with such heart that his body is falling apart.

CONT'D...(2 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!